In this paper we discuss several key challenges encountered when conducting a study of the continuity of participation in the child care subsidy program. While many of these issues are familiar to those who have studied participation dynamics in other assistance programs, and to those familiar with survival analysis, we describe these challenges…

This report summarizes the complex research literature on quantitative methods for assessing how impacts of educational interventions on instructional practices and student learning differ across students, educators, and schools. It also provides technical guidance about the use and interpretation of these methods. The research topics addressed…

Sampling has been the single most influential component of conducting research with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations. Poor sampling designs can result in biased results that will mislead other researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Investigators wishing to study LGB populations must therefore devote significant energy and…

Meehl's taxometric method was developed to distinguish categorical and continuous constructs. However, taxometric output can be difficult to interpret because expected results for realistic data conditions and differing procedural implementations have not been derived analytically or studied through rigorous simulations. By applying bootstrap…

Discussion of speech sampling in the assessment of children with phonological disorders focuses on the use of nonlinear phonological analysis, a method whereby multiple aspects or levels of a child's phonological system are examined. Principles and suggestions offer general guidance for adequate sample elicitation. (Contains references.)…

This commentary on EC 603 695 argues that significance testing is a necessary but insufficient condition for positivistic research, that judgment-based assessment and single-subject research are not substitutes for significance testing, and that sampling fluctuation should be considered as one of numerous epistemological concerns in any…

This paper argues that judgment-based assessment of data from multiply replicated single-subject or small-N studies should replace normative-based (p=less than 0.05) assessment of large-N research in the clinical sciences, and asserts that inferential statistics should be abandoned as a method of evaluating clinical research data. (Author/JDD)

Discusses a technique for estimating sample size that does not require an a priori definition of desired precision. Presents five modifications that make the method easier to use and reduce the probability of estimating a larger sample size than necessary. The technique can guide the design of environmental sampling programs. (Contains 31…

Procedures are discussed for collecting the conversational samples needed to conduct a topic assessment in the communication of adults with mild to moderate mental retardation. A framework for analyzing topic initiations, topic maintenance, and topic changes or disruptions is explained via transcripts illustrating various types of topic…

Provides a physical description of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), both in terms of their characteristic nature in the atmosphere and the processes which control their deposition. Contains a summary of the requirements for a full assessment of atmospheric SVOCs and their deposition. (LZ)

The representativeness of behavioral observation samples with durations of less than the whole time of interest was investigated with five profoundly mentally retarded physically handicapped adults in an institutional setting. It was found that the session representativeness was a function of the relative duration of the behavioral categories and…

A modified time sampling procedure that measured behavioral rate and duration was used to record stereotypic and on-task responding in 11 students (ages 11-17) with severe emotional and behavioral disturbances. For both types of behavior, response duration exhibited less variability than response rate, and noncorrespondence between the two…

The nine-volume Survey Kit is designed to help readers prepare and conduct surveys and become better users of survey results. All the books in the series contain instructional objectives, exercises and answers, examples of surveys in use, illustrations of survey questions, guidelines for action, checklists of "dos and don'ts," and…

A repeated measures design was used to assess the effects of a methadone maintenance program in several California locations. Subjects were 720 Chicano and Anglo men and women participating in rehabilitation programs for heroin addicts. The subjects were interviewed between 1978-1981, and the average follow-up time after initial treatment was 4-6…

Developed as part of a three-year project funded by the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), this manual is designed to present librarians in the State of California with an alternative, "sense-making" approach to assessing the information needs of patrons and potential patrons and to assessing accountability, i.e., whether…